Barroso says that the Judiciary has become a political power

The vice-president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Luís Roberto Barroso said, last Wednesday (5), that the Judiciary went through an “ascension process” and ceased to be a “specialized technical department” to be “political power”. The speech took place during the opening of the 7th Meeting of the Council of Presidents of the Courts of Justice of Brazil, held in Porto Alegre. When starting, the minister informed that he would not give a lecture or conference, but rather a conversation about the demands of the Brazilian Justice, making mention of his future management at the head of the STF. Minister Barroso will assume the presidency of the Supreme Court in September.

“The Judiciary in Brazil, after the Federal Constitution of 1988, lived and still lives a vertiginous process of institutional rise. It ceased to be a specialized technical department some time ago. It became a political power in Brazilian life. There has been a change in the nature, in the role, in the visibility, in the expectations that exist in relation to the Judiciary”, said the minister.

Barroso points out that the lack of prospects and attractiveness of other careers would be keeping people away from the judiciary

Minister Barroso also spoke about the remuneration of judges as a factor that may be discouraging entry into the career. “Above all today, there is a remuneration issue and an issue of the difficulty of reaching the courts. Judges, often, faced with a lack of perspectives and the attractiveness of other careers that allow mainly advocacy, end up giving up the judiciary. This is a problem that we have to solve. The salary ceiling ends up being the floor sometimes and creates many difficulties”, said Barroso.

When talking about the remuneration of judges, Barroso also said that the comparison between a judge’s salary and the minimum wage would be a “totally inappropriate comparison”. “You have to compare the remuneration of a judge with the remuneration that the legal careers in the market offer”, justified the minister of the STF.

Based on data from the latest Justice in Numbers of the National Council of Justice (CNJ), Minister Barroso pointed out that the country has 18,000 judges, who employ 425,000 people, including judges and servants, and a cost of around R$ 104 billion, equivalent to 1.2% of GDP. The Judiciary Power currently has 76 million lawsuits in progress, of which 61 million are in the state courts, being responsible for the widest range of courts in Brazil. The average time for the process is five and a half years. “Making Justice more efficient, this is my obsession”, said the minister, who, remembering the delays presented, said that “this is a bad statistic that we need to improve”.

“The Supreme Court is unfairly accused of an activism that it does not produce”

Minister Barroso also spoke about the accusations of judicial activism that fall on the Federal Supreme Court. “The Judiciary has, and the Supreme even more, a certain role, because everything in Brazil can reach the Judiciary”, said the minister. He explained that the Constitutions in the world take care of basically two things: organization of political power and definition of fundamental rights. In comparison, Barroso completed by saying that the Supreme Court is unfairly accused of an activism that it does not produce.

“The Brazilian Constitution does that, but beyond that, it takes care of the tax system, the social security system, the health system, the education system, culture, the demarcation of indigenous lands, the protection of the environment, the elderly, children and teenagers and so on. When you bring a matter to the Constitution, you take it out of politics and bring it to law”, justified Barroso.

In his speech, Barroso also admitted that the Judiciary needs to improve its communication with society using simpler and more accessible language. “The Supreme Court suffered four years of attacks and the image of Justice is bad. We have to improve the image and it’s not with advertising, it’s with content and reap the rewards of those who provide a good service ”, he concluded.